North Fork Pines State Natural Area

Situated on the North Fork of the Flambeau River, North Fork Pines features a dry-mesic to mesic forest dominated by 15-30" diameter white pine with yellow birch, sugar maple, and paper birch. The sapling and tall shrub layer is dense with ironwood, hazelnut, and Canada honeysuckle. Characteristic herbaceous species include wood anemone, wild sarsaparilla, lady fern, drooping woodland sedge, Canada mayflower, rough-leaved rice grass, sessile-leaved bellwort, and American starflower. Old, well-rotted stumps are present but no evidence of any recent disturbance. Snags and coarse woody debris are common. The site becomes richer and more mesic to the north and east where more mesic hardwoods begin to dominate. Birds include bald eagle, hermit thrush, black-throated green warbler, blackburnian warbler, and pine warbler. While small in size, this site contains one of the two largest and best quality examples of a white pine-dominated forest on the Flambeau; mature conifer forests are rare in this landscape. North Fork Pines is owned by the DNR and was designated a State Natural Area in 2010.